Rating NYC Neighborhoods

Jonathan Miller of Miller Samuel, Inc. recently released data comparing the areas of NYC…interesting info. Additionally, Mr. Miller stated:

“The change from 2004 to 2005 (prior year) was characterized by an overall 25.8% increase in price per square foot for all of Manhattan with all but one of the markets experiencing double digit increases in price per square foot. The overall Manhattan price per square foot change would have been between the 9th and 10th ranked markets in 2005. The overall Manhattan average price per square foot change from 2005 to 2006 was 6.8% and fell between the 15th and 16th ranked positions indicating that the higher ranked locations were generally
smaller in size, carrying less weight.

In either year, none of the neighborhoods/markets saw negative price declines and judging by the early going in 2007, “more of the same” appears to be the trend. Of course, this is in distinct contrast to the national housing picture”.

Click graph to enlarge…

Buyer Demographics: William Beaver House

The Real Deal
per WSJ
May 11, 8:44 am
New condos draw old-timers…

Marketing material for the William Beaver House Firms across the country are constructing condos with amenities like on-site bars and videogame lounges meant to lure young professionals. However, many are finding they’re attracting just as many baby boomers as 20- and 30-somethings. Close to home, for example, Andre Balazs’ under- construction William Beaver House–which gained notoriety for its saucy marketing campaign–has drawn considerable interest from the over-50 set. The Financial District development, which is set to open next year, has sold about 30 percent of its units to a “mixed group” of buyers, according to Balazs. “It’s not as young as I thought,” he noted.

Retail Around Wall Street

Heather Tip: They say FiDi is going to be the next 5th Avenue…hopefully, not as crowded…

Upscale Italian clothier Canali recently signed a 10-year lease for 2,500 square feet at 25 Broad. The store is scheduled to open this summer. The asking rent was just shy of $200 a square foot annually, according to Winick Realty Group’s Darrell Rubens.

London shirt-maker Thomas Pink will be moving into a 4,000-square-foot space just around the corner at 63 Wall Street in June or July. The store, with an asking rent in the area of $200 a square foot per year, is already under construction.

Tiffany is also opening a store on Wall Street…

Gristedes has signed a lease for 7,500 square feet in the Wall Street area, becoming the first supermarket chain to open a store in the financial district.
The market will be located at 90 Maiden Lane, between Pearl and William streets, in a space previously occupied by a McDonald’s restaurant.

The asking rent was $120 a foot.

Jeff Winick, Darrell Rubens, Angellina De Richie, and Lori Shabtai of Winick Realty Group represented both sides.

Whole Foods is planned for 101 Warren St. several blocks north of the World Trade Center site.

And Just Who Are All These Uptown Developers?

They want families as buyers and air for their towers; mostly, they want Manhattan addresses

The New York Observer
by David Foxley

Published: May 17, 2007

A considerable chunk of Manhattan’s condominium projects proposed for 2007—nearly half—will be constructed above 86th Street, and many of them will be built by first-time or little-known developers. As reported in this week’s Observer, some 30 of the 65 planned condominium projects submitted to the State Attorney General’s office, between Jan. 1 and May 7, are above 86th Street. And a vast majority of those will be above 110th Street.

But instead of having backers with names like Zeckendorf, Trump or even Padeh, these $20 million new-construction and conversion projects—like the one going up at Seventh Avenue and 127th Street—are being built by outfits like NYC Designs Inc., the Poko Partners and Mann Realty. A $27 million conversion at 1890 Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard at 114th Street, for example, is slated to be built by something called Tahl Propp Equities.

“I don’t want to call it a gold rush, but there are a lot of young, small-name firms taking cracks up there all over the place,” said Trevor Stahelski, the impossibly young and successful partner at Cardinal Investments. “The dirt is cheap, and it’s in Manhattan. It has the Manhattan neighborhood structure that you have in other parts of the city: colleges, hospitals, transportation.”

It is exactly this marriage of relatively inexpensive land prices and a Manhattan address that is bringing more real-estate savvy developers and buyers to neighborhoods above the park.

Mr. Stahelski, whose project at 245 West 115th Street is already sold-out (“We’re done!”), thinks the reason the area is attracting a slew of unseasoned developers is evident: “You can take a little more risk and be a little farther away from established areas and be a pioneer in gentrifying neighborhoods; it’s really a simple strategy.

“We look for opportunity, balance the risk by staying in Manhattan in neighborhoods that are getting safer—it’s gentrification,” Mr. Stahelski explained.

And what kinds of buyers are hoping to take advantage of lots of space, easy access to public transportation, good Manhattan schools and safer streets?

Yup, you guessed it—families.

“I think our buyers are almost exclusively coming from the Upper East and Upper West Sides,” They are comfortable up there, they have kids and they know there are good schools around,” said Gary Davis, executive vice president of development at the Athena Group. That firm’s 111 Central Park North (the marketers’ moniker for 110th Street) is already over 70 percent sold.

Mr. Davis cited a couple other factors drawing folks to the area: “Retail is following the residential. There is great light in the air, since zoning restrictions are very strong, so buildings won’t get too tall.”

The perfect height, some might say, for a new developer.

Trump SoHo Hotel

Heather Tip: Word on the street is that the opening SQ FT price is $2,600.00…

The Real Deal
By Lauren Elkies
May 16, 3:04 pm
Trump Soho hotel-condo readies to sell

A rendering of the development Now that Trump Soho Hotel Condominium New York has a permit from the city’s Department of Buildings, the sales and marketing companies associated with the project since its inception are ready to start selling.

The developers named Core Group Marketing and Florida-based Prodigy International the exclusive sales and marketing agents to draw buyers from New York and across the globe, said Jody Kriss of the Bayrock Group. The hotel-condo is being developed by Bayrock and the Sapir Organization.

“We think the buyers for this project are coming from farther away than your typical New York condo,” said Kriss.

The development, at 246 Spring Street between Varick Street and Sixth Avenue, is expected to tower over its Soho neighbors. It will rise 45 stories and is expected to have around 413 units. The tower is also one of only a few hotel-condos currently planned in New York.

The sales center is expected to open soon, and construction on the skyscraper should be completed by spring 2009.

Foundation Work Underway for Dey Street Headhouse

May 11th
Update for Lower Manhattan…

Sub-grade construction has begun on the Fulton Street Transit Center’s new entrance (or “headhouse”) at Broadway and Dey Street. The work includes installation of secants over the next two months, which prepare the site for excavation. By 2009, the headhouse will provide direct access to the new Dey Street underground concourse that will link the Transit Center to the World Trade Center Transportation Hub.

Closing Costs for New York

CLOSING COSTS
CONDOMINIUM APARTMENTS/TOWNHOUSE

For the Seller

 Broker 6%
 Own Attorney $1,250.00 and up
 Managing Agent Fee $450.00
 Move-out Deposit $500.00
 New York City Transfer Tax 1% of price up to $500,000.00; and
1.425% of price over $500,001.00
(Paid by seller, except sale by sponsor)
 New York State Transfer Tax 0.4%
(Paid by seller, except sale by sponsor)
 Miscellaneous Title Fees $100.00
 Payoff Bank Attorney $300.00

For The Purchaser

 Own Attorney $1250.00 and up
 Bank Fees:
Points 0 to 2% of loan value (optional)
Application, credit check, etc. $300.00
Bank Attorney $500.00
Short Term Interest Up to 1 Month
Tax Escrows $2 to 6 months
Bank Underwriting Fees $350.00
Appraisal Fees $300.00 to $750.00
(Dependent on the price)
 Recording Fees $100
 Mortgage Tax 1.75% of amount of mortgage on
Loans under $500,000.00; and 1.875% of amount of mortgage on loans over 500,001.00

 Fee Title Insurance Approx. $675.00 per 100,000.00
 Mortgage Title Insurance Approx. $500.00 per 100,000.00
 Violation Search $170.00
 Managing Agent Fee $250.00
 Common Charge Adjustment $1 month
 Real Estate Tax Adjustment 1 to 3 months
 Mansion Tax 1% where price exceeds $1,000,000.00

CLOSING COSTS
COOPERATIVE APARTMENTS

For the Seller

 Broker 6%
 Own Attorney $1,250.00 and up
 Coop Attorney $450.00
 Flip Tax 1% to 3% of price (if applicable)
 Stock Transfer Tax $0.05 per share
 Move-out Deposit $500.00
 New York City Transfer Tax 1% of price up to $500,000.00, plus
$25.00 recording fee, and 1.425% of price over $500,001.00 (Paid by seller, except sale by sponsor)
 New York State Transfer Tax 0.4%
(Paid by seller, except sale by sponsor)
 Payoff Bank Attorney $300.00
 UCC-3 Filing Fee $20.00

For The Purchaser

 Own Attorney $1,250.00 and up
 Bank Fees:
Points 0 to 2% of loan value (optional)
Application, credit check, etc. $300.00
Bank Attorney $500.00
UCC-1 Filing Fee $20.00
Bank Underwriting Fees $350.00
Appraisal Fees $300.00 to $750.00
(Dependent on the price of the apartment)
Short Term Interest Up to 1 Month (wash)
 Move-in Deposit $500.00
 Lien Search $250.00
 Maintenance Adjustment 1 Month
 Mansion Tax 1% where price exceeds $1,000,000.00

Around Wall Street…

Many of you know that I started out in this business fascinated with the Upper Westside, Upper Eastside and Midtown. For years I studied buildings, architects and any little piece of information I could gather.

I have found a new passion: Lower Manhattan.
In particular, the Financial District.

The history is rich and the architecture is unbelievably beautiful –yet refined.
In March, I attended The Real Deal Magazine’s “Third Annual New Development Forum” at Avery Fisher Hall.

The Forum’s Panel of Experts included:
Amanda M. Burden — Chair, New York City Planning Commission;
Peter J. Davoren – CEO, Turner Construction Company;
Jonathan J. Miller – President and CEO, Miller Samuel Inc.;
Stephen M. Ross – Chairman and CEO, The Related Companies;
Dr. Robert J. Shiller – Yale University Professor of Economics and Author of Irrational Exuberance;
Kent M. Swig – President, Swig Equities and Co-Chairman of Terra Holdings.

The evening was so-so. I always feel that if a learn something new, then an event such as this was worth the two hours of my time. What I learned this night, is that I actually have the same beliefs regarding the Financial District as one of the panelists.
I always process information as real estate sales professional and as the appraiser. With the filter of both, I must admit that Kent Swig was the most innovative and displayed the most fervor of all the “Panel of Experts”. I agree that the Financial District is going to be huge in the coming years: logistically, socially, culturally and most importantly, it is the lowest per sq ft price including the most reasonable taxes in all of NYC.

Fun, light-hearted article in the NY Post that actually has some insight to FIDI.

When you have a moment visit the plans for the new World Trade Center Transportation Hub

More to come regarding this new neighborhood I have been focusing on…